The Nation Newspaper

Tag: investment

  • Governor sets up 10-man committee to boost trade, investment 

    Governor sets up 10-man committee to boost trade, investment 

    •Appoints Head of Service

    Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai has set up a joint committee with the Nigerian American Chambers of Commerce to boost trade, investment and create job opportunities.

    The committee, which is expected to have five members from each of the partners, is headed by Deputy Governor Bala Barnabas Bantex.

    It is expected to come out with a blueprint by September on the projects proposed by the chambers, such as power generation, setting up of hatchery, providing 500 hectares at the Millennium City for Kaduna American School and rebuilding the Zaria and Kafanchan markets.

    Addressing a delegation of the Nigerian American Chambers of Commerce led on a visit to Sir Kashim Ibrahim House by its President, Mr. Sheriff Balogun, El-Rufai lamented that there were over three million unemployed youths in the state, adding that the high number of unemployed youths in the country led to insurgency and other problems.

    He has announced the appointment of Mrs. Alisabatu Dada-Onazi as the new Head of Service.

    El-Rufai made the announcement yesterday at a civic reception organised in honour of his deputy, Mr. Barnabas Bala-Bantex, in Kafanchan.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that before her appointment, the new head of service was the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

  • Rabbits offer big returns on investment

    Rabbits offer big returns on investment

    Investments in livestock are growing, as the sector is becoming a key factor in sustaining the household and flow of income. Many are venturing into rabbit rearing, which has become a silent money spinner, reports DANIEL ESSIET .

    Lamson Opeyemi is the all in all on his rabbit farm in Alagbado area of Lagos State. His daily routine involves cleaning the cages, feeding the animals, tending to them and acting as  a veterinary doctor to them.  He always caresses his   majestic breed of rabbits, which he sees as prized possessions.

    For him, keeping  rabbits or practising cuniculture  in his backyard has been a long time passion.  He loves the idea of stepping into his backyard to see his flock  in their cages.

    Of late, rabbits rearing have become a profitable business venture as people prefer its meat to beef and goat meat classified as red meat. Aside, meat from Rabbits offers excellent nutritive and dietry properties with high protein content and high levels of essential amino acids. People who   looked down on   rabbit farming have come to appreciate the economic and nutritional value of the animals.

    Opeyemi’s decision to concentrate on rearing Rabbits instead of practising computer science, which he read, has been a wise decision that has given him good  income yearly.

    One reason for investing in Rabbits, according to him, is that they are prolific in multiplying and  their gestation period is only 30 days. They grow fast and can be slaughtered after three months. They are noiseless, and are   particularly suited to home  farmers, who may choose to raise them without any fear of constituting a nuisance to neighbours. Cuniculture or Rabbit rearing is growing steadily and is no longer a little boy’s game. It has become a new rave among many local small farmers.

    For Opeyemi, the business of tending to Rabbits can be seen as raising any other livestock such as cattle, piggery and other farm animals that are profitable .

    For starters, there is a need for a 10 x 4ft cage for a unit of rabbits, which consist seven females and three males. Their gestation period is just a month.

    A rabbit  can deliver six times in a year, having three to 10 offsprings at once, which can be sold after 100 days. A matured rabbit weighs about 3.5 kilogramme. With an investment of N50,000 to N100,000, as  Opeyemi explained,  it is possible to make N300,000 to  N500,000 profit in 12 months. But it requires housing them in a spacious and well aerated cages, using materials such as wire mesh, planks and iron sheets for roofing.

    Other requirement is  keeping them in different cages according to their ages and breeding stage, and  feeding  them regularly  with vegetables, vines, grass and water to ensure they gain weight fast. One could also feed them with pellets as their feeds are called.

    According to Opeyemi, the   business is not so expensive to start. His words: “All you need to do as a starter is to get three males and seven females, and give them shelter, which is usually a wire cage, the holes should be large enough in order to keep the place neat. The cage should have compartments and you can put one in each compartment so that they don’t injure themselves. Medium-sized rabbits  breed at 4 to 5 months of age and give birth after a month of gestation. He  said  female ones can produce up to 50 annually, with births high during the summer. One  female, he  said can  produce an average of 9 kits per birth.

    He added: “Because not so many people are into rabbit production, in about a year you will be talking of an income of about N900,000 and more, if you sell  each at eight weeks at  N2000. His profit projection is based on  a  start-up plan with 15 females and five males.

    He expects  525 young/adult rabbits in 12 months   under good management. Rabbit rearing  has brought him a fortune.

    Opeyemi is not only a successful farmer, but an  entrepreneur as well, trying to promote rabbit farming in any way possible. He is always ready to share his experiences with the people and encourage them to start small units.

    Before arriving at cuniculture, Opeyemi  has ventured into other enterprises such as plantain farming and aquaculture. His success as a rabbit farmer and an entrepreneur is in the way  he combines his knowledge and hard work with willingness to meet challenges and move forward.

    What sustained his business till date are his passion and joy to change lives. His is passionate about agriculture and enjoys rabbit rearing.

  • BoI urges investment in solid minerals

    BoI urges investment in solid minerals

    The Bank of Industry (BoI) has called on the Federal Government to pay  attention to funding investments in the solid minerals sector, noting that the industry has the potential to attract huge foreign exchange if developed.

    Its Managing Director, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, explained that most countries in the continent have been able to achieve economic growth because they have invested a lot of resources into developing their natural resources.

    Olaoluwa, in a chat with The Nation, pointed out that Nigeria has not been able to develop its solid mineral space, calling on the government to fund a geological data in the country and conduct an international bid to develop the industry.

    “Botswana has been able to make millions of dollars from gold mining. Nigeria should look towards this direction by investing in solid minerals where the country has a comparative advantage to diversify the economy,” he added.

    The BOI boss, however, stated that the development finance institution has an authorised capital of about N250 billion, with N146 billion as paid up. “We want to take steps to look at an alternative way of funding the financial institution because our capital has always come from the government. We are looking at other sources already,” he said.

    He said in terms of Non Performing Loans (NPLs), the bank recorded a relative high NPL in the past, but stressed that the bank had embarked on a number of initiatives to review the NPL downward, including recovery of loans that were not properly monitored.

    “In a nutshell, today, at the BOI, our NPL is less than five per cent. The development bank in Brazil, their NPL is 2.2 per cent. The development bank in South Africa, the NPL is 16.8 per cent. With less than five per cent as NPL, BOI’s ratio is not bad,” he said.

    Olaoluwa, however, said the bank has done a lot to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), but stressed that what the sector needs goes beyond finance.

    He added that the bank is giving the loans and also looking at making the lending process more efficient to assist the SMEs.

    “This is why we appointed over 100 Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs) to help the SMEs prepare lendable business plans to access BOI’s business loans,” he added.

    He said the bank is automating its processes to give SMEs the opportunity to enjoy the benefit of automation. “A lot of SMEs are unable to keep records because they do not have an accountant, who understands the technical details of debit and credit. We are looking at a model to empower SMEs to transact businesses with their mobile phones on their own without the help of any accountant,” he said.

    The BOI boss decried the lack of patronage of locally produced goods, saying that Nigerians must patronise Made-in-Nigeria goods for the country to achieve economic growth. “It is in our national interest. We are all complaining about lack of jobs, we are complaining about economic issues, if we do not patronise our local producers, we will not make any progress,” he noted.

    According to him, there are people, who have invested in facilities to produce locally, but they cannot sell and they go bankrupt and lay off staff. But if they produce and are able to sell, they are able to grow and hire more people, translating to economic growth.

    “I am not saying that we should support any producer because there are people who are local producers and they produce trash, but there are few companies producing to meet international standards and such companies should be patronised,” he added.

  • FCTA to domesticate investment policy

    In order to accelerate the volume of trade, investment and industrial development of the Federal Capital Territory, the FCT Executive Committee (EXCO) has approved the domestication of the FCT Trade and Investment Policy.

    The Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed, who disclosed this, said that the EXCO gave its nod during its meeting.

    Mohammed reiterated that the overall objective of the domestication policy is to accelerate industrial development by radically increasing value added at every stage, increase total factor productivity by pursuing knowledge and skill for intensive production renewal for industries and encourage innovation.

    According to a statement issued by Assistant Director/Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, Muhammad Sule, the minister said in the short-term, the policy seeks to increase the number of manufacturing companies in the FCT; work on manufacturing enterprises that experience difficulties with a view to reviving those with good prospects as well as provide support services that can help manufacturers take advantage of existing opportunities for accessing funds.

    According to him, the domestication policy seeks to create new opportunities for the development of micro and small-medium enterprises; create more direct and indirect employment opportunities, apart from attracting new investments in medium and large enterprises.

    He emphasised that the EXCO also approved the facilitation of the adopted document on the domestication of Trade and Investment Policy in the FCT to the National Assembly for legislation.

    The FCT Minister of State, Oloye Olajumoke-Akinjide, FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr. John Chukwu, FCDA Executive Secretary, Mr. Adamu Ismaila, Chief of Staff to the FCT Minister, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar Sadiq, mandate secretaries and some directors attended the EXCO meeting.

  • Atlas plans $22.5m investment in Rwanda

    Robert Diamond’s Atlas Mara Ltd. said it’s in talks to invest about $22.5 million in Banque Populaire du Rwanda and merge it with BRD Commercial Bank Ltd., creating one of the central African country’s largest lenders.

    Atlas, which will own 45 percent of BPR if the deal is concluded, also plans to buy stock from other shareholders to bring its holding in the merged bank to more than 70 percent, Atlas said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.

    Atlas Mara, co-founded by Diamond, and Ugandan entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar, is expanding in Africa by buying financial services companies. The company acquired ABC Holdings Ltd. and ADC African Development Corp. last year and bought a stake in Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. in September.

    The merger of BPR and BRD Commercial Bank Ltd. would create Rwanda’s largest bank by branch locations and second largest lender by assets, with combined assets of about $305 million, Atlas said in the statement.

    Atlas reported a $63 million loss in March after its first full year. The company said it would have posted a $7.2 million profit if transactions made in 2014 had been completed at the start of the year and one-time costs were excluded.

     

  • We want to make Southwest Nigeria preferred destination for tourism and investment

    We want to make Southwest Nigeria preferred destination for tourism and investment

    Two years after the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission was established as a response to yearnings for and an ambition to foster development of Southwest Nigeria, its Director General, Mr Dipo Famakinwa, spoke with BISI OLADELE on the journey so far.

    The DAWN Commission was established to harmonize socio-economic potentials for regional prosperity. Do you think the commission has justified its establishment?

    Certainly, the Southwest region will always look for the opportunity to move forward, that is who we are. Since 2013 when the commission was set up, we have tried to create an institutional framework around those ambitions which are very clear. We want the best for ourselves as far as education is concerned, healthcare and some of the best infrastructure in the world to be in our region. We want to ensure that our region is attractive for investment, to ensure that we have engaged people and citizenry, people who understand what development is about and ready to make their own contributions too. We want our cities to become more optimal and our economy to become more competitive. This is clearly our region’s ambition and I do not see anyone who will disagree with it.Our own is to build an institutional framework and ensure that those ambitions are realized. And how have we done that? First is to realize the fact that the states hitherto used to think as an individual state. But we needed to create a collaborative work whereby the states begin to have engagement and interaction among themselves, begin to see what they can copy from one another, what they can also learn from one another, and begin to identify the common challenges and create common solutions along that common challenges, identify the common problems and see how they can build a collaborative framework around that common problem. So, those are the things we have been doing.

    Beyond that we have also recognised the fact that if you want to move forward you have to create strategic plans of actions. The commission, for instance, has helped in creating a regional plan of action for economic competitiveness, in general planning, for security law and order. It is the regional line of action for the creative economy which we consider to be a very critical component of our developmental progress, the regional plan of action for the development of tourism and so many areas where we have tried to create strategic line of action. Out of what we have done also is to ensure that we recognize the civil service as a critical development institution along the line with the ambitions earlier mentioned. The seventh summit of the heads of service held in Lagos around February was a very successful one. Part of the resolutions of the summit is that we need to begin to see how we can create a regional framework for building the capability of our civil service. We have a lot to look back to. So, clearly talking about the civil service, there were talks on how we can try to create a better civil service. So, those are the kinds of things going on and we are proud to say we have been a very good facilitator in ensuring that those things happen.

    In the order of priority what three major challenges will you say the commission has faced?

    In order of priority, one, is to keep what is working, in the areas where we are doing well. One needs to ensure that we have sustainability in those areas. Second, is to look for areas where there could be immediate possibility of regional actions. If you want me to be specific and mention the sectors, I will say we need to take education very seriously. It is not yet producing what I will call learning and character. We need a lot of impact on our social character, we need to do a lot more on education. We also need to do a lot more on agriculture. Agriculture gives us a lot of opportunities to take people out of poverty and we have the latent capabilities here, so we need to sweat those capabilities. It is also important for us to look at our communities and see how they will become more optimal, both the rural and urban. So, in areas of priority, those are the areas we are looking at. But if you want me to go beyond that, I will mention the issue of security. That is very critical. A secure region will enable us attract investors, a secure region will also enable the people in the region to be able to pursue their daily economic and social activities without fear. Security, law and order are also important to us. Of course, we have to build our institutions to enable them deliver on their mission, both our economic and governance institutions. So, those are the areas we consider to be very important, even though there are so many other areas we are working on.

    For two years now, there must be challenges that have slowed down the pace at which the commission is supposed to move, Could you please share them?

    One of the challenges we have is the political environment. There are lots of activities in the political environment that if we are not careful, will impede our development progress. We need to manage our political environment to achieve anything. The Nigerian environment is highly politicized. You find a lot of a things that should not have political or partisan consideration suffering that fate. We need to ensure that the political environment enables development. Again, in the Southwest, especially when you are working with governments that do not belong to the same political party, creating conversations can be a little bit more difficult. But, we have not allowed that to affect what we are doing. In cases where there are occasions for us to move together on certain actions, that is what has been the big issue for us. For example, all the states have participated in all the actions we have taken on development and cultural tourisms in the region. All the states have participated in the civil service summit. This has held twice. In agriculture, we had a meeting with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture last year to present ourselves as a regional block, all the states participated in the conversations and the actions that followed. What we tried to do is to not only create conversations, but also dialogues and then we build collaborative actions from the issues that arise from the deliberations. We do not just leave it at the level of discussions, we make sure that we follow them to the level of being put on the table. Also for instance, there was a game competition organized for secondary schools in the region, all the states participated, especially in the discussion that led to the hosting of the games in Lagos. Quite a number of those issues have happened, but of course we will expect that the political environment enables development more than it currently does.

    Funding is also an issue, we are not able to get the required level of funding that we need. So, it is a long way battle for us to win because the legitimate sources of funding are the government. If our states are bleeding, then it will be difficult for us to have the sustainable level of funding that we require. That is an issue for us. Though we are also working on a lot of strategy to create sustainability for ourselves, in which case we can look at alternative sources of funding. Part of the challenge we have is that our people also are disengaged from the development projects. We need to take the development to them. The masses are too busy trying to survive. The middle class people are trying to consolidate, not to drop lower. Everyone is busy. So, we need to ensure that everyone comes on board for the development project, we need to take it to them. How we are doing that is to create levels of consultations across stakeholders, we cannot succeed without the people behind us.

    How are you taking the gospel of the DAWN commission to the common man in the region?

    Like our people say, we need a lot of money to reach out to all stakeholders but we are not relenting. We use every opportunity that we have, especially regional programs and meetings, to take advantage of what the states are doing. We take advantage of the Ministry of Information to get our message to the people. We can do more, this is one of the reasons why I am talking to you. We need all the help that we can get. We are communicating this to our people. One of the programs we have in view, is “Pagede Agbajo Owo”, which is a grassroots oriented program where we intend to bring all our people across the region, especially grassroots people, and have an ongoing engagement on the development agenda of the Western Nigeria. We expect to do it now that the election is over. Hopefully, from that, we will have more successes to ensure that what we are doing gets to the grassroots.

    How open is your door to every Yoruba son and daughter that has something to contribute to the development of the region?

    Our doors are open not only to Yoruba people but to anyone who can help us. The vision of the development agenda is to make the Southwest part of Nigeria the preferred destination for people in Africa to visit, work, live and invest. We want an enabling environment for everybody whether you are a Yoruba man or not, as long as you have anything meaningful to contribute to our region, you are part of the development project. Yoruba land cannot be for Yoruba people alone. By nature, we are very accommodating; our environment is attractive to different people in the world, not only Nigerians. Clearly for us, is to see how we can create an environment that makes contributions. Our doors are open to everyone. If we can speak to the Japanese to come and invest in our region, it means we are open to everybody. We are also asking the Americans to come. Clearly, we cannot have a region that is exclusive to Yoruba people.

    We also want to build communities. There are strategic points where we need to get more traction behind what we are doing. For instance, we want to build a young agropreneurs community in the West. We have recognized the fact that young people are abandoning agriculture but we have seen some success stories in terms of young people involved in agriculture and they are doing well in it. Some of our states have interesting programs for some of our young people in agriculture. I know about the WICARD in Ekiti State and the young agropreneurs in Lagos which is situated in Epe. I know about the one in Ore, and also know Oyo State has one. So, we want to create a regional young agropreneurs community.

    We also want to create a community for the creative industry, Southwest creative community. We are looking at a community generating a lot of start-up business, that is, a start-up business community. We are also considering private sector communities. Part of our plan is to see how we can build communities around these strategic points of our society where development is happening. Part of what we want to do is to engage the policy environment development. And like I said earlier, unless the political environment is better, we cannot do much. Part of our program is to engage more in the policy environment in terms of influencing policies, ensuring that the policy environment is networked all across the region and nothing is missing as far as the policy environment is concerned.

    We also want to promote policy commissions. We believe that in the states in the region there should be some level of interaction going on. For instance, we want a policy commission between Lagos and Ogun, Oyo and Osun, and Ekiti and Ondo. So, if we have those policy commissions we will provide them opportunities of looking at things they should be doing together, even between themselves. For example, Lagos and Ogun can look at some infrastructure programs. The policy commissions are expected to facilitate interactions between these states. We are not just trying to do them, converstaions have started towards ensuring that these things can happen. They must happen at the right time. For instance, we have finished the regional competitiveness strategy document.

  • Afrinvest launches online trading, investment mgt mobile app

    Afrinvest Securities Limited has introduced an online equity trading mobile application, offering client’s mobile access to their brokerage accounts and portfolio data. The latest innovation follows the launch of the firm’s online trading portal – Afrinvestor.com – in September last year.

    Speaking during the launch in Lagos, its Managing Director, Charles Egbunonwo, said the firm has always believed in the power of information communication technology tools.

    He said: “Afrinvest has always placed a premium on the use of technology as a business enabler, and the introduction of Afrinvestor.com is to empower clients to take more control of their investments, supported by sound investment advice and professional guidance.

    “With Afrinvestor.com, our clients and investors will not only be able to initiate and execute trades online; they can also view (and edit) their account information and portfolio performance, access a wealth of in-depth equity research as well as market data and intelligence on companies, key sectors and the broader Nigerian economy, all from the comfort of their homes or offices or on the go.”

    Its Head, Corporate Communications, Oladipo James, said a precondition for user to enjoy the benefits of the apps is that prospective user must first register as a user.

    He said: “In order to be able to use the app you must first register as a user of our online trading portal – Afrinvestor.com.”

    “Existing clients of Afrinvest Securities Limited can request for their login credentials by sending an email to us at afrinvestsecuritiesltd @afrinvest.com while new clients need only complete our simple online account opening form and upload required documents at www.afrinvestor.com and begin trading; no minimum account opening balance required.”

  • Ecobank M.D. Aku offers investment tips

    Ecobank M.D. Aku offers investment tips

    The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Jibril Aku, has said one of the best ways to grow money is making investments. Aku gave this advice recently while lecturing students of Government Secondary School, Lugbe, Abuja on the topic “Growing Your Money” as part of Global Money Week.

    He described investment as something that is purchased with money and expected to produce income or profit, stating that, investing money reduces risk of theft, spending and gives chance for the money to grow.”Generally, investments are broadly divided into ownership (equities) and lending (debt). The higher the risk involved, the higher the return and interest rate; the longer the period of investment, the higher the interest rate,” he said.

    The Ecobank boss also took the students through investing in real estate, precious objects, bonds, mutual funds, adding that “just like you eat good food and take vitamins to protect your body from sickness and allow you grow, you need to protect your money and investments in a similar way by getting insurance.”He explained that “Stocks are securities that allow you become a part-owner of the company whose stocks you purchase. Examples of stocks are shares. When you buy the shares of a company, you are given a share certificate and entitled to dividends only if the company makes a profit. Shares also allow you to attend the company’s general meetings and sell your shares for capital gains in the stock market when the price of your shares increases.”

    He also counselled the students on the need to save money in the bank, noting that “to register with a financial institution, you opened an account and are provided with an account number. The commercial banks generally offer ordinary savings account; current account; time savings deposit account and foreign exchange deposits.

    “The Global Money Week is a global money awareness celebration that takes place between March 10 and 17 every year to engage children globally in learning the concept of savings and investment. The day is being marked to focus attention on children and youth in primary and secondary schools nationwide and to empower them by enhancing their financial knowledge and planning skills. During the period, financial institution chief executive will visit; teach selected students from the schools a module of a Financial Literacy curriculum specially designed by Junior Achievement Nigeria – a non-governmental organisation focused on educating children about their economic environment.

  • $10b investment: Will it boost power supply?

    $10b investment: Will it boost power supply?

    Erratic power supply may soon be a thing of the past. A Chinese firm and two local investors are poised to inject $10 billion (about N1.99 trillion) into the manufacturing of lighting equipment and accessories to boost electricity supply. The investment may be the wedge for solar energy adaptation in the country,  Assistant Editor OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE reports. 

    Nigerians may soonn start enjoying regular power supploy,  following plans by a Chinese firm and its local partners to invest $10 billion (about N1.99 trillion) on energy.Under the deal Hongye-Sinari Group, Niger-Sino Industries Limited and Hamaded Logistics will build a solar energy accessories’plant. When  operational, the plant would serve industrial and housing estates, schools, hospitals and malls,  Director, Energy Generation, Hongye-Sinari Group, Mr. Xu Rongchang said.

    He explained that the investment would lift the country out of its power problems

    Noting that Nigeria has enormous potential that needs to be harnessed, Rongchang said what the country needed at the moment are products capable of reducing energy consumption, such as Light Emitting Diode (LED) products and other high quality electrical materials that comply with global standards.

    With their eyes set on playing a significant role in the energy sector, he said the companies specialize in the manufacture of lighting equipment and accessories; solar energy.

    Shedding more light on areas of investment by the Chinese firm, the head of the Chinese delegation, Mr. David Yang Xoaohua, said the company is also into the manufacture of agricultural equipment, which it also believes will be a good start, especially in the light of the agriculture revolution in the country.

    Xoaohua, while addressing members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in Lagos, during the week, said the company would also invest in construction. He said the company is one of the biggest players in real estate in China.

    “We have developed an industrial park worth $15 million and our corporate head quarters is on 8,000 square metres,” he added.

    Stating that the company has branches in over 100 countries with over 5,000 workforce, and investible fund of over $10 billion,Xoaohua said with such enormous funds, the company needed to have clear rules of engagement, an enabling environment and a good legal framework that protects investors and investment.

    He told the OPS members that his firm was in the country to ascertain the level of security and safety of lives and investments, adding that, fortunately, his team has confirmed that the country’s challenges are over blown as they can be surmounted with the right investment policy.

    The leader of the Chinese delegation said after a careful study, the firm came to the conclusion that Nigeria, being the largest economy in Africa, remains the best place to invest with high returns on investment.

    Indeed, since the rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which put Nigeria as Africa’s largest economy with GDP size of $500 billion, coupled with her population size of about 170 million, Nigeria has been the toast of foreign investors, despite serious infrastructure and security challenges.

    Despite the challenges,  Xoaohua believes that with a level playing ground by the government and other necessary agencies, the partnership would thrive and create a mutually-beneficial business for the country.

    “Our aim is to help the nation in the areas of infrastructure development and the mechanization of its manufacturing process, develop the energy sector to boost manufacturing and other forms of businesses. It’s a win-win situation as it provides opportunity for massive employment generation. This is one area we learnt the government is working hard to bridge. There will be no case of dumping of fake and substandard goods as we will set up our manufacturing plant,” he added.

    The Managing Director of Niger Sino Industries Limited, a building and construction manufacturing company in Maryland, Lagos and a former commissioner in Lagos State, Mr. Olanrewaju Saka-Shenayon, assured the Chinese investors that the government would provide a level playing ground. He said the government expects any investor to play by the rules.

    Saka-Shenayon, who was instrumental to the tripartite agreement, said having been in government he appreciates the role private sector operators can play in enterprise and infrastructure development.

    He gave Hongye-Sinari Group a clean bill, noting that it is a strong brand in China and in the over 100 countries it operates. He said this was what spurred him to invite the group to Nigeria. He stated that there is no better time for the Chinese investor to invest in the country than now, especially with its core competencies in manufacturing and real estate, which are huge job creators.

    Saka-Shenayon hailed the synergy between the Chinese company and the local investors as one that would not only transfer technology but build skills, create wealth and grow the nation’s GDP. Besides, the synergy, he said, would further build and re-enforce Nigeria’s profile as Africa’s largest economy.

    He pledged the cooperation of the OPS, noting that with the huge funds the investor is bringing into the country, the nation will be better for it.

    Managing Director, Hemadeb Logistics Limited, Mr. Olatunde Akin Bohun, said as a real estate developer in the Lekki/Ajah axis, he is excited about the coming of the Chinese investors because of the expertise and investible funds they are bringing into the sector.

    He said: “We have a 100 acres real estate development deal with Exxon Mobil and real estate partnership development agreement with some state governments in the Southwest on housing development that will be powered with solar energy. This makes our partnership with the Chinese firm a plus. Currently, we are also developing a five-star hotel on the Lekki/Ajah axis, the medical college of Afe Babalola University worth $10 million including a 140 mega watts plant in some Southwest states.”

    Pointing out that some of the challenges faced by indigenous investors in real estate are high cost of funds and fund mis-match, Bohun as mutually benefiting to parties in the tripartite agreement.

    Others at the event seen by not a few stakeholders as an endorsement of the investment deal included Chairman, Nigerian/China Business Association in China, Mr. Sebbs .P.C. Azubuike, Mr. Akin Abiola and engineer and the Executive Chairman, PEC Estates & Construction services Limited, Mr. Henry Adjbrope and Mr. Olaniyi Taiwo of Hemadeb Logistics Limited.

  • Europe to expand business investment in Nigeria

    In spite of the economic crisis evident in the falling of the naira to the dollar, there is evidence that more business investments are coming to Nigeria from the European countries

    Towards the end of last year alone, about 38 top companies from Denmark came to Nigeria to seek possible areas of investment in the country. These include agriculture, industry, mining, oil and gas, construction, road, building and infrastructures.

    The President, Nigeria-Danish Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Prince Ben Adako, who disclosed this also informed that Denmark has concluded plans to expand their shipping business with Nigeria

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, the president said that importation of goods from Denmark to Nigeria and exportation of goods from Nigeria to Denmark is well balanced giving the indication that Nigeria’s business interest is highly protected

    He said that the trade volume between the two countries towards the end of last year recorded about N330m (1.5million Euros) about 35percent. He said that with the return of the Danish Embassy to Nigeria the volume of trade would definitely skyrocket.

    According to him, the Danish Embassy in Nigeria left during the military regime, however, the Nigerian chapter of the chamber, he said, has been able to convince the foreign ministry of Denmark and eventually they have opened their embassy once again in the country

    He urged the government to ensure adequate supply of electricity for the industries to operate, noting that challenges confronting industry operations, commerce and control can push investments out of the country, “We need regular electricity for our industries to operate properly; we need conducive environment for business to thrive so that we do not push investments out of the country” adding that once the situation is conducive, there would be reduction in capital flight

    Again, to keep the interest of Nigerians alive, the president has called on the federal government to come up with a law that would guide foreign investors as regards the positions that they would take and the positions that would be reserved for Nigerians

    He noted that many foreign companies keep important positions for their nationals while they give small positions to Nigerians. This, he said would not protect the interest of Nigerians enough because of over invoicing, movement of funds out of the country and all the rest.